The CEO of Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ youth charity The Proud Trust has written an open letter to all candidates hoping to become the next Mayor of Greater Manchester.
The letter urges whoever is elected to champion LGBTQ+ young people across the region.
The Proud Trust CEO Rachel Williams argues that Greater Manchester's next mayor has a responsibility to ensure every LGBTQ+ young person feels safe, valued and able to thrive, saying:
“Whoever becomes the next Mayor of Greater Manchester won’t just inherit responsibility for transport, housing and economic growth, you’ll inherit one of the most proudly diverse city regions in the country and with that comes a responsibility to protect the communities that make Greater Manchester what it is.”
Williams further states that they have “watched public and political discourse around LGBTQ+ communities, in particular towards trans and non-binary people, become increasingly hostile, divisive and dehumanising.
“When the adults shaping those conversations speak about LGBTQ+ lives as though they are problems to solve rather than people to support, young people hear that too. They absorb it, they internalise it, and too many begin questioning whether there is still a place for them in the communities they call home.
“The next Mayor has an opportunity to send a very different message, not through rainbow logos every summer or speeches during Pride, but through the decisions you make every day.
“Leadership isn’t about waiting until inclusion is popular, it’s about standing up for people when they need you most.”
Williams concluded with a plea for the next Mayor of Greater Manchester to listen, saying:
“Young people don’t need politicians to have all the answers, but they do need them to listen. Every decision you make over the coming years will help shape the Greater Manchester today’s children grow up in. Will it continue to be somewhere LGBTQ+ young people feel proud to call home? Somewhere they know they belong? Somewhere they believe their future matters?
“I hope every one of you will make that commitment, because the true measure of a city isn’t its skyline or its economy, it’s whether every young person growing up there knows they are safe, valued and free to be themselves.”
The 2026 Greater Manchester mayoral by-election will be held on 30 July 2026 with a range of candidates from across the political spectrum standing.
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